Try Restorative Yoga, a Gentle Beginner Exercise!.This Slow-Paced Yoga is a Good Beginner Exercise after Bariatric Surgery and for Sedentary People .

Restorative Yoga can bring many positive health benefits and can be an excellent beginner exercise for those who’ve had bariatric surgery and/or have been sedentary. This gentle exercise form helps students gain flexibility and has been shown to greatly reduce stress and anxiety. It really is a perfect form of activity for most newbies to exercise! Of course, even though Restorative Yoga is directed toward people who are recovering their health, you must confirm with your trusted healthcare practitioner before engaging in the practice.

What is Restorative Yoga?

The website YinYoga describes Restorative Yoga as a form of practice directed towards students who are injured, stressed or ill, who need a very gentle practice and who are looking to regain the quality of life that they used to have, but have lost. It involves the use of props (sometimes lots of props) to allow the body to feel totally supported, to allow the body to relax and release; long holds of these gentle postures, postures often selected to address specific challenges; and deep mental and visceral relaxation…Â Restorative Yoga is a very gentle practice that does not try to stress the tissues deeply and does not take the student outside her normal comfort zone.

Restorative Yoga is a gentle yoga compared to styles of yoga with dynamic movements, muscular engagement, active breath-work or energizing music. The Restorative Yoga class will be quieter and more relaxed than these other styles of yoga class.

However, even though Restorative Yoga isn’t the most strenuous of activities, there are still a lot of beginners who get nervous before their very first class. More often than not, though, this is just a slight fear of the unknown and not knowing what to expect! To help ease your worries, here are some things that every yoga beginner needs to know.

Everyone Started As A Beginner

Some people are slightly nervous about what they will be expected to do in the class. They might think that they won’t be good enough and will struggle to keep up with everyone else. But this really isn’t the case! Restorative Yoga poses include light twists, seated forward folds, and gentle backbends that can be modified so they are suitable for someone with limited ability. The yoga sequence is slow-paced with only five or six poses held for 5 minutes or more. Being supported by props (bolsters, blankets, and blocks) allows you to completely relax and rest.

And just remember that everyone has started out at a beginner at one point — even the instructor teaching your class. Just think, in a couple of years’ time, you might be good enough to lead your own class yourself!

Wear Clothes You Can Move In

Yoga involves a lot of stretching and holding poses. All of that movement will require you to be in some stretchy clothes that can move and stretch with your body. Ideally, yoga pants are the best things you can wear. You’ll be able to maneuver easily in them, and the natural materials in them will help your skin breathe so you won’t get too sweaty.

There’s More to Yoga than Stretching

Do you think that you will just have to stretch out your body in your yoga class? There’s actually a whole lot more to it than that! In fact, you will find that the last twenty minutes of your class will be dedicated to relaxation. During this section, your yoga instructor will lead you through some meditation techniques to help you clear your mind and forget all your worries. You will feel like a completely new person when you open your eyes!

No One Is Watching You

Something that a lot of newbies worry about is that their technique will be far from perfect and that they might embarrass themselves in front of their classmates as a result. Again, this is something that you really don’t have to worry about. Everyone will be too busy trying to concentrate on what they are doing that they won’t be interested in what you are doing. And even if they do see you do something that isn’t quite right, they won’t laugh at you. Everyone in your class will have been in your position at some point, and they will understand just how hard it can be for newbies!

Hopefully, this article helps you feel a lot more comfortable about your first yoga class!

Cheryl Ann Borne, writing as My Bariatric Life, is an obesity health activist and Paleo, Keto, low-carb recipe developer. She inspires patients with outstanding resources and by sharing her long-term success in defeating obesity and its related illnesses of diabetes, hypertension, depression, asthma, GERD, autoimmune disease and digestive disorder. Today, My Bariatric Life is a size 2 down from a size 24W and living larger than ever!

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I feel the bad things we do, or have done, or the bad decisions we have taken, could not have been done differently by the person we were. Nobody takes a bad decision knowing the consequences will be very hard to live with. We do what we do mostly in self-defense and based on our own self-image. A thief is really saying to himself 'I steal because I am a thief'. An abuser is saying to himself 'I abuse because I am an abuser'. People with self-respect and self-love could not imagine stealing or abusing. It would be unimaginable to them. When we don't love ourselves, if we think of ourselves as a thief or an abuser, that is exactly how we will behave. Sadly, that cycle always starts when people are treated badly, or are shown a bad example, when they are very young. Through guilt we force ourselves to live and relive our past. Our past remains our present, and becomes our future. Self forgiveness is the only way of renewing our hearts and minds, giving us the self-respect that makes the idea of behaving badly unimaginable to us. And self- forgiveness is something that only we can give to ourselves. But once we have, we can respect and love the people around us, because our self-image of who we are, is changed. Once we respect ourselves, we are naturally respectful to the people around us. So the more we forgive ourselves, the better we become as people. How simple is that :-) So do something wonderful today and every day. Forgive yourself and become the wonderful person you are, that is, when you and only you realize it. ...